(1) Whether her Director-General signed a performance contract with her; if not, why not; if so, when; (2) whether all senior managers in her department signed performance contracts with the Director-General; if not, (a) which senior managers did not sign, (b) for what reason and (c) when will it be done; if so, on which date did each senior manager sign a performance contract?

(1) How many (a)(i) orphans and (ii) child-headed families are there at present, (b) orphans currently receive child support grants and (c) child-headed families receive foster care grants; (2) whether any steps have been taken to enable (a) orphans without legal guardians Friday, 14 August 2009 230 INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY NO 9 - 2009 to access child support grants and (b) child-headed families to access foster care grants; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what steps?

(1) (a) How many places of safety are there for child victims of crime and (b) where are they situated; (2) whether she has been informed that the police have difficulty in placing child victims at these places, especially after hours, as many of them are full; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (3) whether any alternative plans are in place to accommodate such children; if not, why not; if so, what plans; (4) whether any additional places will be opened in 2009; if not, why not; if so, (a) where will they be situated, (b) when and (c) what will their capacity be?

Whether, in light of the current recession and the consequent shortfall in state revenue, her department has introduced any austerity measures to reduce its expenditure with regard to (a) official vehicles, (b) travel, (c) travel by departmental officials, (d) accommodation and household help or (e) any other aspects of government business; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

(1) Whether her department makes use of private security firms; if so, how much money was spent on such firms in 2008; (2) whether these firms are used on a contractual basis; if so, (a) how many contracts did her department take out in this regard in 2008, (b) with which firms were these contracts taken out, (c) for what specific purpose was each contract taken out and (d) what was the value of the contract in each case; (3) why is there a need for her department to use a private security firm as opposed to state security?

Whether any function was organised to mark the occasion of the delivery of her budget vote in 2009; if so, (a) what total amount was spent on this function, (b) from which budget was the money allocated, (c) what amount was spent on (i) food and refreshments, (ii) venue, (iii) entertainment, (iv) staff and (v) transport and (d) how many persons were invited to attend this function?

PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WRITTEN REPLY QUESTION NO: 969 DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28 August 2009 QUESTION PAPER NO: 12 DATE OF REPLY: 8 September 2009 Mr N J van den Berg (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications: (1) Whether, with reference to recent reports that e-TV has applied for an urgent interdict to delay the switching over to digital terrestrial television (DTT), (a) the process by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) was procedurally correct and fair and (b) sufficient, relevant information was provided; if not, why not in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case; (2) whether there was any negligence on the Icasa side with the compilation and providing of important documentation with regard to DTT; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW1168E REPLY: 1) (a) ICASA has informed me that the process of the draft DTT regulations, was procedurally fair, as the regulations was subjected to two rounds of public consultation. In terms of procedure, the draft regulations were placed on the website of the Authority as it is common practice. Interested parties were given thirty (30) working days to comment to the first draft, and fourteen working days in regard to the second draft. This is due to the fact that most of the issues canvassed in second draft were already addressed during the initial consultation process. The consultation process was held in terms of section 4 of the Electronic Communications Act, and in due consideration of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, which requires public bodies to embark on certain processes when decisions. These include giving members of the public adequate time to make comments. (b) Yes, information was given to all stakeholders through a publication on the Government Gazette. All submissions received were made available to interested parties ahead of the public hearings. At the end of the consultation process, a detailed reasons document was issued to highlight the key decisions taken by the Authority. 2) ICASA has informed me that there was a referencing error in regulation 10 of the final DTT regulations. This is being rectified as part of the review of the current regulations to allow industry additional time to comment the key issues raised in the revised document.